Improved clothes-wringer



J. JOHNSON. CLOTHES WBINGER.

Patented June 28, 1864.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

JOSEE JOHNSON, 0F NEW.Y ORK, "ASSIGNOR TO JOHN WARD, JR, or

BROOKLYN, N. Y.

.lMPROVED CLOTH ES-WRINGER.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 13,368, dated June 28, 1864.

.To aZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it knownthatl, JOSEE JOHNSON, of

New Yorkl city,'in the county and State of New York, 'h'av e invented certain new and useful Improvementin Olothes-Wrin'gin g Machines .and I'do"here b y declare that the following i's'a'i'ull and exact description thereof. The accompanying drawings form a part of "this specification.

Figure 1 is a side view of a machine with my lmprovement. Fig. 2 is an edge view of the same. Fig. 3 is a planview of thc same.

All thesefigures are on the same scale and represent the; same machine, always in the sameconditionto wit in position upon a tub for use, but not secured with any consid-' erable amount of .force. Fig. 4: is a sketch exhibiting an edge view corresponding to Fig. 2, but ona smaller scale, and showingthe machine very tightly secured upon the tub.

The force with which the machine is se-v c'uredupon thetub is so greatas to spring or' bend jthe material, and' this. bending is indicated-as carried to avery great extent. 1 It is exaggerated 'm'uch bcy'ondwhat will usually occur in"practic'e,' ,"The red outline indicatd nea ill? fda'rk j outlines in'iI ig." 2 represents more nearly the amount of bending which actually occurs in practice.

Similar letters 'Of ,rei'crence indicate like parts in all thefigures. My invention relates to the framing of the machine.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention,- 1 will proceed to de scribe its construction and operation by the aid of the drawings and of the letters of ref-' erence marked thereon.

- ','A,'B, and G are 'sets'of uprights, of ashorother isiiitable wood, which compose the chief They are connected by part es pf tlie frame, I screw-boltsl), which pass through holes near the center of the, frame in a horizontal 1di rec'-' tion. Each bolt D has a head,'d, at its inner end-4. c.,'t he end presented toward the center of; theTtu'li--and a screw-thread at its op-' posite endpwhich matches into a female screw on the interior of the. crank or nut E. The uprights A and B are kept apart at the bottom by rigid struts G. The uprights B and Care kept'apa'rtmt the top by elastic cylinders of india-rubber, H, vulcanized, and at the middle height by coiled springs I, which encircle the screw-bolts D. Other members of the framingwill be described furtheron. M and N are rollers composed of vulcanized india-rubber. They are secured on stout shafts 'of iron, m and n, which shafts carry also suitable gear-wheels, m and n. The shaft m carries, also, a handle or crank, M, adapted to give motionto the system in the manner which willbe obvious. These rollers, shafts, gear-wheels, and crank may be constructed of any approved form and materials, and need not be particularly described. 1 The shafts m and n are supported in notches in the side of the uprights A and B, the shaft n being thus .supported a'little' higher than, theshaft m; They are so presented to the uprights A and B and to each other that the tightening of the screw-bolt D by the turning I of the nut E presses them together.- "J J areseini-cylin'drical sidepiec's of 'vir'oo'd. They are secured 'firmly upon the uprights A,

and are fr'ee' to move against 't-lie uprights 13,.

or at a slight distance therefrom."

The parts now described ,pcrtor n the 'prin-.

cipalfunctions of the framing 'a'ridbf the em.

tire machine. The subordinate parts'are'horizontal' 'rods or pieces a and 'li,-which' con-'- nect across the framing near the bottom in the position represented, a piece, I), which connects the two uprights B B a little above the middle height, as represented, and 'a smooth bar, b, which is supported by the bar b, tl1rough the medium of slightpins 6 ,511 as represented. The bar I) may, if preferred, be supported directly by the uprights 0 05 In either 'c'a'se"it ,ivill be u nderstood that I the india-rubber fcylinders H H are holl ow',- ai1d are jtra ver'sedby'iron or wooden 'piri's'fhfk', which are'"fixed in the posts BB, and are Tree to move in the holes'in the postsG 'C; The

holes are sufficiently large toall'ow the posits or uprights O (l to bend somewhat'ivithout causing them to bind.

It is well to adapt the parts to allow a very: considerable spring or a permanent setjofbotlifl the uprights A A and. O G without disturbing the action of the machine or the freedom of motion of the proper parts. The holles in tlie' uprights which receive-the bolts D ])''a e somewhat-larger than said bolts, to allow them to slip easily through to any extent desired. A washer is placed on the bolts D under each of the nuts E.

My machine may be manufactured and sold separately from the tub, and maybe attached and separated at pleasure. It may also be attached to tubs of dili'erent sizes, or to square boxes, if desired.

To use my machine, it is placed in the position represented, upon the edge, of a tub, and the nuts E are turned until the lower ends of the uprights (J O are pressed with great force against the outside of the tub and the lower ends of the uprights B B correspondingly pressed against the inside. This pressure holds the machine firmly upon the tub, and at the same time induces a compression of the rubber cylinders II II at thetop, and a press me of the rubber rollers M N strongly together. There is also a compressive strain on the struts G G; but these are not elastic, and

they allow no motion, except the ery slight fiexure due to the bending of the parts. If it is desired to increase the yielding elasticity of the machine, rubber or other springs may be introduced at the point Gr, instead of the rigid connections represented but in such case it is important to provide by other means for resistin g the vertical strain which accrues from the fact that the rollers M and N are not on the same level. The crank N is turned in the direction of the arrow by the right hand and the clothes taken up from the tub are introducedbetween the rollers M and N by the aid of the left hand, applied either directly or by any suitable instrument. The rolls squeeze out the water and deliver the clothes obliquely upward, allowing them to bend down by their gravity, and final] y to fall into a basket. (Not represented.) The semi cylindrical side pieces, J J, prevent the framing of the machine from assuming any distorted and false condition laterally, and also guide the clothes as they are drawn up from the tub, and prevent any portion from getting over the ends of the rolls M and N. The bar b? supports and guides the clothes as they bend down in emerging from the machine, and prevents their touching the edge of the tub and possibly falling inside. So soon as the work is done the ma chine may be readily removed by slackening the nuts E E and lifting it off from the edge of the tub. In this condition the coiled springs I I act'by their elasticity to separate the uprights B and O. The springs I I also perform another function while the machine lies thus idle. Through the aid of the bolts 1) D, which slide easily through the uprights B B, they press the uprights A and B to gether with the same force as they hold the uprights B and C asunder- They thus take up all the slack of theparts, and keep the rolls and framing in a condition ready for immediate application and use when required again on the same tub or on another tub.

When the machine is in use, the elastic force of the coiled springs I I contributes to press the rolls M and N together. The tension of these springs, which may be slight when the machine is not applied to a tub, becomes increased as the parts are screwed together and approximate the condition indicated in Fig. 4. Half the tension of these springs is always felt on the rubber rolls M and N, pressing them together. I

I propose sometimes to use my machine as a mangle instead of a clothes-wringing machine. To do this I employ hard rolls of wood or metal in lieu of the elastic rolls MN, mounting and operating them in the manner here represented. I can construct machines in this manner specially intended for mangies, and with the hard rolls constantly mounted, or I can substitute hard for soft rolls in a machine originally intended for a wringer only. The construction of the framing here shown is very favorable to such a substitutiom'exchanging soft rolls for hard, and vice versa, because the shafts of the rolls are not introduced'through the centers of the uprights A A and B B, but are'merely sunk in deep notches therein, as indicated.

In using my machine thus adapted as a mangle I can introduce the clothes directly from a tub or basket, taking care, of course, to have the tub to which the machine is attached perfectly dry or I can employ a slight table, introduced either permanently or at will, in the position indicated by the red outlines in the figures. Some of the advantages due to certain features of my invention may be separately enumerated as follows: First, by reason of the facts that my middle uprights, B, carry the roll M and are strongly connected to the uprights A at the bottom, I am able to make the same devices which attach the machine to the tub also pressthe rolls together, thereby simplifying the mechanism, and also to make the framing of wood, the cost of which is trifling, and in a simple form, thereby producing a cheap machine, and am able, also, to make available the elasticity. of the framing, either alone or as auxiliary to other springs, to maintain a uniform pressure on the rollers M N, and am also able to place the shaft a higher than shaft m, and consequently to deliver the clothes with a properinclination outward from the tub without distorting the frame or in ducing any 'difiiculty, because the vertical strain due to the difl'erence in level in the rollers may be all resisted by the connection G G without throwing any vertical strain upon the operating parts 0, D, I, and H; second, by reason of the fact that the springs I tend to separate the uprights B and O and to press together the uprights B and A, in the manner shown, I keep the machine always in good condition, with all its parts properly retained in place when out of use, and render available the elasticity of the springs I to assist in uniformly holding and pressing to- .2. In connection with the above; the emgether the rollers M and N when in use. ployinent of the springs I I, arranged at or 7 Having now fully described my invention, near the middle height in the machine, subwhat I claim as new therein, and desire to stantially as and for the purposes specified. secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. In clothes-wringing machines, the inter I JOSEE JOHNSON mediate uprights, B, arranged between the Witnesses: uprights A and O, substantially in the man BENJ. L. BILLINGs,

ner illd for the purpose herein specified. i D. W. STETSON. 

